Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington
Rating: (R16)
★★
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
High budget and low effort, Gladiator II (Rialto, Reading, Metro) is a poorly written, poorly directed film that’s only escaping the critical panning it deserves because Ridley Scott has something of an eye for the cinematic.
The film is a series of moments that lack gravitas; they happen with no compelling personal or political stakes (the latter of which the film seems far more interested in, though it fails to build out this facet in an interesting way too).
Among its many failings, Gladiator II’s script struggles with focus; its protagonist, Lucius (Mescal), is one of many non-descript, surface-level characters in a hodgepodge of names and faces with fragile motivations and not nearly enough context; arc-less and depersonalised, evacuating any potential for good performances.
But the blame must be predominantly placed on Scott’s cinematic direction, for as convoluted as the narrative trajectory of Gladiator II is, it can hardly compete with how lazily shot and edited the entire 150-minute runtime is.
Action scenes are shot purely in close-up, cutting away every couple of seconds to gratuitous reaction shots while swords can still be heard clanging away in the background (though the viewer very clearly understands that this was to extend the battle sequences).
Gladiator II feels more like a parody sequel than a legacy one; bland signifiers harkening back to its superior predecessor in an entirely empty, lazy experience.
